Come journey with me.
"The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only a page." - Saint Augustine

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

INCREDIBLE INDIA November Journal Block

Whether you are the driver or the passenger in India, road travel is always exciting. And if you need a taxi, they come in many shapes, sizes, colors, and styles.

One advantage of this vehicle is you get to know a lot of neighbors in your local area.

The most popular of all though is the tuk tuk. It's small but efficient, economical, can carry several passengers and all their shopping, and best of all it is covered so it makes for the best choice in bad weather conditions.

You're close to the driver so you can easily give him directions for your destination.

While waiting at the traffic light you can always engage in some friendly conversation with the people next to you.

I thought it was a great way to travel around the city.

In my travels around India, the Tree of Life motif was one of the most beautiful and used in many different locations. This particular motif decorated the wall of a mosque.

Another particularly beautiful motif of the Tree of Life was in a temple in the city of Ammedabad. It is wonderful with the grill work in front of a large tree. The green leaves make a wonderful background for the motif. I wanted to use this Tree of Life motif for the first of my four blocks with one or more buttons.

The fabric used for the tree is a brown batik fabric. I used the fusible applique technique for the tree and stitched the edges of the applique with a hand Feather Stitch. The back ground fabric is a hand dyed gold fabric. The leaves of the tree are cut freehand and glued to the tree using fabric glue. An iron-on crystal complements each leave. Hand dyed buttons, of various sizes, where sewn to the trunk of the tree.

Oh, India: your pictures brought me there, I wish I could go for a visit very soon. Especially when I saw the tree of life in Amhedabad, I rememeber looking at it with awe and admiring it for its beauty.Very interesting the creation of the block, but what a job cutting all those leaves!

About Me

My name is Cynthia Tomaszewski and I am the designer and owner of Simple Pleasures, a quilt design company with offices in Michigan and the United Arab Emirates. I am also the author of 5 books, "Garden Party - Applique Quilts That Bloom", "Tea in the Garden - Quilts for a Summer Afternoon","Let's Pretend - Whimiscal Quilts for Kids", "Quilts from Paradise", and just released, "Quilting Those Flirty 30's" which are all published by Martingale and Company.
Travel and adventure have been my goals and luckily I have found a soul mate in my husband Mike. We have travelled extensively through out the world, from Mexico, Europe, Africa, and the Far East to the Pacific Basin. After residing in Abu Dhabi for seven years, Mike, my son Zachary, and I took a two-year hiatus and sailed our thirty-three foot Hans Christian sailboat through the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to Spain. I currently reside once again in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates with Mike and our Yorkie Stanley.